Sumps for Freshwater

[bitterman]

Who has or wants to do a sump for there FW system?

Please give reasons for your answers.

[BigDaddy]

Not for me... too much CO2 loss

[gvv]

I HAD one for my malawi tank, but now it is SW...

[NjOyRiD]

'd liek o try it for my Belize River tank. Would it be doable on a 65g ?

[zapisto]

i have actually 2 and the third one is on planning, it is just more preparation and planning because it will be for my Shrimp Rack.

sump like all others systems have good point and bad point.

i really want to see the explanation of the person who vote : "You are crazy sump is for salt water"

[bitterman]

I did not think anyone woudl vote "You are crazy sump is for salt water" just added it for fun.

As for a river tank, I don't knwo much about them

[Al]

I run a sump on a 215G tang tank - and the sump runs into a UV and a fluidized bed before returning to the tank. Bio handling is outstanding as I have a heavily stocked tank with about 60 adult trophs, petros and simochromis, as well as gobies and BN. I found that mechanical wasn't as great as I would have liked because the tank is drilled up at the top. I also run two Eheim 2028 for additional filtration and back up just in case.

[bitterman]

Why did I goto sumps for FW?

1) Original tank I bought used 172/195 Gallons (Does glass count so people are saying yes, hence 195 Gallons, I still call it a 172 ) was drilled and It came with a 30 gallon sump.

2) I can hide my heaters and most filtration (Don't like the glass overflow box, but had to live with it, My 65 corner tank is using a different approach to drilled tanks with no real overflow box)

3) My DIY water change system is so easy to implement on a sump system

4) I like the constant water level in the main tank

5) I was able to get A LOT of filtration cheap (about $40 offset the cost of the mag 12) building my DIY Home Depot Pots scrubber filer

6) You can run multiple tanks on 1 sump

7) Very good oxygenation in the tank, but it will cause problem keeping CO2 in a tank as BD mentioned above.

The Tangs I chose for my setup can be more sensitive to water changes, the increase volume helps the water stay in the best possible condition for them. Calvus, Frontosa and Syno Mults can be sensitive to changing water conditions.

9) you can grow plants in the sump to act a a nitrate sponge (I had duckweed until my water change system resulted in its death)

Possible problems:

1) Flooding were your tank it (This occurs if you overflow gets blocked on a drilled tank, or Your overflow fails on an external overflow box system) A drilled tank has way less potential problems here.

2) If your return pump dies I look heat and filtration at the same time (I have an XP3 to help out filtration if this occurs)

3) Mechanical filtration is not as good. This can be overcome in different ways from running additional filters to have a larger pre filter to do more mechanical filtration. This is another reason for my XP3

[darkdep]

I have two new 75's to set up; my plan at the moment is to stack them, and have a shared sump underneath. 

I've always liked the idea of a sump.  Higher water volume and hiding equipment.  Plus it just feels more "advanced".  But the biggest reason of all for me is ease of maintenance; with this setup I can water change from one place, change filter media in one place, and it takes care of two large tanks.  Gold in a fishroom that already has 13 tanks running.